gerard depardieu Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Just going by the poster and the trailer, you could probably recognize Babylon A.D. as a bloated big-budget science fiction film. But after viewing the film, and with a few facts to put the film in context -- like the fact 20th Century Fox didn't screen Babylon A.D. for critics, like the fact director Mathieu Kassovitz has already disavowed the film, like the numb dumb clang of every line of dialogue in it -- you realize that Babylon A.D. is a bad, bloated big-budget science fiction film that doesn't even have the distinction of being memorably horrible or bravely idiotic or fascinatingly inept; it's simply an inert mass, a lump of product, a failure too expensive to simply discard.

In a near-future Europe (we're never told the year, but when someone mentions the last Siberian tiger died in 2017, it's implied that was a while ago), a mercenary named Toorop (Vin Diesel) is hired to escort a young woman and her guardian from a monastery in Mongolia to New York. The young woman, Aurora (Mélanie Thierry) has never left the convent; her watchful protector, Sister Rebeka (Michelle Yeoh), cautions Toorop that Aurora is to be shielded from the world. Toorop's taken the job for the payoff -- he's been promised a wad of cash and, more importantly, a new passport that'll get him off the terrorist watchlist that's exiled him from America -- but as Toorop, Rebekah and Aurora travel through the ruined places of tomorrow, they begin to bond. ...

I'll admit it; I have a soft spot for Vin Diesel. Feel free to laugh at me, but I can't help myself, it's something about that voice. So you might want to keep my personal bias in mind when I say that Babylon A.D. really doesn't look all that bad. Silly? Yes, but entertaining none the less. Ropes of Silicon found the latest poster for the sci-fi flick from Gothika director Mathieu Kassovitz and if nothing else, it's a step up from the first one-sheet/Oakley ad we saw a few months ago.

Diesel stars as Toorop, a mercenary who takes the job of escorting a woman from Eastern Europe to New York. But if you have seen the trailer, you know that there is a lot more to this lady than meets the eye. Say what you will about the film, but you have to admit, some of those 'Bladerunneresque' shots of the city were pretty impressive. Starring alongside Diesel is the criminally underused Michelle Yeoh as an a**-kicking nun, as well as, Gerard Depardieu, and Charlotte Rampling.

Babylon has had rough time throughout production. The project started back in 2005, when Kassovitz was hired to adapt the novel, Babylon Babies. Originally the French actor Vincent Cassel was expected to take the lead, but Diesel decided to drop out of Hitman (probably not a bad idea all things considered) to lobby for the role. It was even speculated that the move caused bad blood between Cassel and Kassovitz, and ruined a long standing friendship. As if that wasn't enough stress; there were also delays from weather and talk about the film running over budget.

Hopefully all these problems won't be showing up on the screen when Babylon A.D. opens in theaters on August 29th.

I had never heard of Jacques Mesrine before today, but I should have. Take a look at this Wikipedia entry, which matter-of-factly details the dozens of murders, bank robberies and prison escapes pulled off by the legendary French criminal over a 20-year "career." The best part is that he once fled from a sentencing hearing by taking the judge hostage. How can that possibly work?

Anyway, the story's obviously well-known in France, and it has finally made its way to the screen in a two-part biopic called Public Enemy No. 1, starring (who else?) Vincent Cassel as Mesrine. Budgeted at $80 million, it's one of the biggest French productions ever. At least the first of the films is slated to get an October release in France, and the American rights have gone to Senator Entertainment -- the distributor that helped bury All the Boys Love Mandy Lane after the Weinsteins dumped it. Its president promises to do better with Public Enemy, hoping to have the first film in American theaters by the end of the year. He compares it to GoodFellas and Scarface. Honestly, though, Mesrine sounds like more of a badass than Tony Montana.

The movies were directed by Jean-François Richet, who made the not-terrible American remake of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 a couple of years back. They co-star Gerard Depardieu and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly's Mathieu Amalric (who will also be seen in Quantum of Solace). Oh, and Ludivigne Sagnier, whom I just saw in the very good Love Songs.

Eons ago (i.e. my early teen years), I was given a lovely hardcover volume of Asterix comics, which I remember enjoying yet never fully embracing. Theoretically, I should have related more (Asterix is short like me and an underdog character, as I imagine myself to be); what held me back? Was something lost in the translation? Asterix the Gaul has never really caught on in the United States, but worldwide it's among the best known French comics ever made. Likewise, numerous movie versions have been made, none of which have dented the American market, even though they've done well worldwide.

The latest cinematic edition, Asterix at the Olympic Games, will have its world premiere on January 13 in Paris, according to Variety, which also says that it's "one of the most expensive European films ever made," with a budget reported to be $114.6 million. The film is a co-production by French, German and Spanish companies. The comic series followed "the exploits of a village of ancient Gauls as they resist Roman occupation," according to Wikipedia; the new film appears to, uh, pit the Gauls against the Romans in the Olympics -- and they said I couldn't read!

The French-language official site for Asterix at the Olympic Games has an impressive-looking teaser as well as a full-scale trailer and a selection of gorgeous high-resolution stills (click "Espace Presse" for those). From the looks of things, a good chunk of the budget was set aside for computer graphics. Human stars include Gerard Depardieu as Obelix, Alain Delon as Julis Caesar and Clovis Cornillac as Asterix. The "family adventure comedy" is scheduled for wide release on Wednesday, January 30; no word on North American distribution, so hard-core fans will need to make some European travel plans.

While many big French actors never make it big stateside, Gérard Depardieu has. Even those who haven't seen his films know his name, and he's zoomed ahead in international recognizability over fellow actors like 36 co-star Daniel Auteuil -- whose name isn't well-known, although his films are getting a lot of English-language remakes recently. Now Depardieu is being honored by the Film Society of the Lincoln Center, in recognition of "distinguished film artists. Kent Jones, of the society, says: "Depardieu's to European cinema in the '70's what Brando was to American cinema in the '50s. he was able to connect to and represent the whole gamut of European males: tough guy, stud, intellectual, bourgeois, anarchic rebel, hedonist."

Around twenty of the actor's films will be shown between August 3-19 in celebration of Depardieu's cinematic achievements. This will, of course, include his Oscar-nominated stint as Cyrano de Bergerac, although there is no word on the other films that are making the cut. The man has come a long way over the years, overcoming an alcoholic father, a short prison stay, drunk driving and even some shoddy translation by Time, which labeled him as a possible statutory rapist. These days, he's got lots of businesses that include restaurants and a vineyard, and yes, there is the acting. A few years ago, he said he was going to retire from the big screen, but since then, he has had almost twenty new gigs. (Retirement claims are just all the fashion these days.) Most of these films have yet to be released, so we've got a lot of Depardieu to look forward to, beyond his retrospective honor.

Just last week we got news that Martin Campbell was possibly going to direct a movie called Unstoppable for 20th Century Fox. Now there's another report that says Campbell is already attached to helm 36, the remake of Olivier Marchal's 36 Quai des Orfèvres, which we told you about back in January. The original, which stars French superstars Daniel Auteuil and Gérard Depardieu, is about two detectives investigating a series of armored car robberies. The remake was set to cast George Clooney and Robert DeNiro (who is still producing through Tribeca Films) in place of Auteuil and Depardieu, but a new rewrite from Richard Price (Clockers) has the detectives' ages lowered, so younger actors will now be required.

According to Variety, Campbell is currently prepping for Unstoppable, so his attachment to 36 won't be conflicting with that film. But unfortunately for many James Bond films, these two projects seem to indicate further that Campbell will not be directing the next 007 feature, despite his acclaim for and success with Casino Royale. One thing I find interesting is that previously 36 was being reported with Marc Forster set to direct. Forster was also rumored to have been offered "Bond 22" last month. If he was to take it, there would have to be a petition from Campbell's fans to call for another switcheroo. Meanwhile, I'll be circulating a petition calling for somebody in America to put out a Region 1 DVD of the original 36.

What's an aging, overweight lounge singer to do when a haunted, beautiful woman half his age waltzes into his life in a beguiling red dress? If he's Gérard Depardieu, he finishes his set and then finds a reason to talk to her. In The Singer, directed by Xavier Giannoli, Depardieu plays Alain Moreau, a minor star whose fan base is weighted heavily toward the gray-haired, cane-and-walker set. When Marion (the lovely and enchanting Cécile De France) shows up at the nightclub where Moreau croons away his nights (backed up by a band with a penchant for purple satin shirts), Moreau is instantly entranced.

On the surface, it would seem there is very little to attract these two people. Moreau is twice Marion's age; he is overweight, and she doesn't even know who he is -- she's surprised, in fact, that older women seem so enthralled by him, and that he's constantly approached for autographs and fan photos. The classic French love songs that Moreau makes a living singing mean nothing to Marion. Marion, on the other hand, is a trim, smartly dressed young woman who works in the real estate business for Moreau's friend Bruno (who also has a thing for her).

Chew on this:

• I've more casting news to bring you for the remake of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, which I posted about here and here. Matthew Goode and Ben Whishaw will be joined by relatively new actress, Hayley Atwell. Her most notable role to date is in Woody Allen's upcoming film, Cassandra's Dream, which will be released in October. In Brideshead, Atwell will play Julia Flyte, the sister to Whishaw's Sebastian and the lover of Goode's Charles Ryder. Being paired with Goode should make for some steamy scenes. The film is set to shoot this May.
• If there is something better than Bill Cosby's Julia Child impression, it might be the news coming out of ShoWest today. It seems that Ratatouille director Brad Bird has divulged that Peter O'Toole will be one of the voices in the upcoming ratty film, that opens June 29. The epic actor's voice is bringing life to a food critic character named Anton Ego. That's enough to make me curious about the film. Basically, the movie is about a rat who wants to become a French chef, but obviously, rats aren't desirable in a kitchen, so craziness ensues.
• The director of Assault on Precinct 13, Jean-François Richet, is setting up a double-feature project based on an infamous gangster named Jacques Mesrine, who is known in France as "the man with 1,000 faces." The first, Death Instinct, has added Gérard Depardieu to the cast as Mesrine's mentor and fellow gangster. Vincent Cassel, who was François Toulour in Ocean's Twelve, has already signed on to play Mesrine. Gerard is probably not the man I'd think of first for the role, but maybe the addage should be: take as much Depardieu as you can get. No?
  

One of the greatest things about the film Heat was our chance to finally watch two fantastic actors (Robert De Niro and Al Pacino) act alongside one another. Of course, it wasn't the first time these two Godfathers of cinema appeared in the same film, but it was a moment everyone (including me) had been waiting for. And tell me that scene at the table didn't make the movie.

Now, word is trickling out via MTV and Production Weekly that De Niro might be teaming up with another mega-Hollywood giant, George Clooney. Okay, perhaps it's not as jaw-dropping as the De Niro/Pacino pairing, but nevertheless they're still a delicious on-screen duo. The film in question is Marc Forster's (Stranger Than Fiction) 36, a remake of the 2004 French flick 36 Quai des Orfèvres starring Gérard Depardieu. Pic tells of two cops who compete against each other to solve a series of armored car robberies, with the winner earning a promotion. At first glance, the premise could sound sort of comedic (if you hadn't heard of the original) -- however, I assure you this ain't no comedy. It's a straight-up crime drama, complete with violence, revenge and all that other tasty stuff. De Niro recently told MTV that he will film 36 (which will be based off a script written by The Manchurian Candidate scribe Dean Georgaris) after he's finished with the Barry Levinson pic What Just Happened.

Here's a question: In your own fantasy world, which two actors (or actresses) would you like to see paired up on the big screen?

Two aging lions of French cinema, Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve, are ex-lovers standing on a Moroccan beach, staring out across the Strait of Gibraltar towards Spain. For them, it's a moment to give over completely to the past, and imagine how things might have been if they had stayed the people they were thirty years ago. But despite being wrapped up in themselves, they are not alone. Behind them, beyond the forest clearing, there are hundreds of eyes peering out from behind the trees. Those eyes are also looking in the direction of Spain, but for very different reasons. We are in Tangier, a busy port with a hustle-bustle vibe more easily attributed to its sister city, Casablanca. Having acquired a reputation for being a path of least resistance to continental Europe, Tangier is now, among other things, a trampled corridor for illegal migrants arriving from all points of lower Africa.

With such tremendous background action going on in this film, there's a brazen competition for our attention, between the characters and the city itself. At one point, a casual conversation between Deneuve's character, a radio DJ named Cecile, and a friend on a city street is bluntly interrupted by an unexpected moment: A fleeing migrant sprints directly past the characters and the camera, before being halted and seized by the police. Cecile and the friend have to stop their conversation and just watch the event unfold, along with the audience. Changing Times, indeed.